Places Of Interest

K!lrnal town, where the head-quarters of the Kamal district and of the Karnal tahsil are situated, is on the old bank of the Jamns, about seven miles from the present course of that river. It is a station on the Delhi-Umballa-Kalka Railwav. The population is about 23,000. Its name is derived from Karna, the rival of Arajana in the epic of the lIahabharata, bv whom it is said to have been founded. It would seem to have be'cma plnos of little importance in early historical times, as no mention of it occurs until towards the end of the Pathan period. Kamal was plundered in 1573 by Ibrahim Hussain Mirza in his revolt against Akbar, and its neighbourhood laid waste by Banda Bairagi in 1709. In 1739 it was the scene of the defeat of Muhammad Shah by Nadir Shah. After the fall of Sirhind in 1763 the town was seized by. Gajpat Singh, Raja uf Jind, but in 1775 it was recovered by Naja! Khan, Governor of Delhi. It again fell into the hands of Gajpat Singh, but his SOD, Bhag Singh, lost it to the Marathas in 1787, and It was subsequently made over by them to George Thomas.